Fun with an MD1200/MD1220 & SC200/SC220

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nklak

New Member
Oct 8, 2023
3
0
1
Thanks oldfett, this info helps a lot. Do someone has diagnostic codes for compellent sc40xx, as I have it running, but diodes 0-7 shows some error code. In manual there is only explanation that diodes 0-3 is lowHex and 4-7 are highHex but I could not find any Hex codes diagnostic list in manual. So i gues some technician help is needed to figure out what diagnostic is said. I found schematic for RS232 3.5mm cable so I will make one and try via terminal. I also suspect that there is no default GUI interface IP address, so I first must reset to default or set new parameters for LAN management?. Correct me if I am wrong.

Best regards
 

oldfett

#iwork4dell
Jul 20, 2016
44
21
8
Its customized American Megatrends so you can google those post codes and it should get you in the ballpark. I don't think an official post code list exists, I'm sorry.

For the most part Storage Center management IP's are static, there are options for DHCP but I don't think most used that option. Also I'm guessing where you got your controllers just yanked them out of a working system and the passwords aren't defaults, but maybe you are lucky. If not you can reset the password via the USB method which can be found googling around. Otherwise once you get your serial cable up you can set the BMC IP via the BIOS and re-image via ISO if needed.

All this being said you likely have a very uphill battle ahead of you. Those controllers are likely confused as hell and very angry about being in a chassis they don't expect.
 

nklak

New Member
Oct 8, 2023
3
0
1
OK, I have managed to boot controllers (no errrs) and to get into safe mode via CLI on console cable (I had made 3.5mm to RS232 myself). I have done this via other chassis (veritas netbackup) and not via dell SC220 :)
Anyway, now controllers boot into safe mode, but rejects Admin password. I found procedure via usb and unlock file but so far I can not get Admin access via CLI. System recognize USB but not still password is not valid. First question is, can I change Admin password via safe mode and how? Next quetion is about management interface and BMC. I have managed to switch BMC to DHCP and add user so I can log in via GUI, but as I see this is not sotrage management, only some basic HW monitoring. In safe mode I can see management IP, I can ping it, access via ssh (when enabled) but I do not have GUI. I guess because SC OS is not fully up. So I need procedure how to deploy storage from scratch now when I am locked out. This is my first Compellent so I need some help from community. Thanks in advance
 

oldfett

#iwork4dell
Jul 20, 2016
44
21
8
If your in safe mode the Admin user is not active yet, until the system is fully booted you will not have GUI. I don't think you can change the Admin password while in this state as the config is not fully loaded to do so.

Username: __safemode__ <--- Two underscores before and after safemode
Password: StorageCenterSafeMode

You may be in safe mode because the disks are gone and the system is confused, but more likely it can't read its expected information on the midplane. The SC4020 and SCv20x0 store information about their serial number and other basic system information on the midplane to automate canister replacements, the SC2x0 enclosure has no concept of doing this, so it can't find this location (along with likely its communication channel to its peer).

Once you log in I would do the following to dump logs:
  • Log set 1000
  • log show

I think the interesting log line is something about VPD mismatch. If the canister is stuck on this there isn't much you can do, you can re-image/re-install (lose the license if one is installed) until you are blue in the face it will have the same issue.

Example of what its looking for:
Code:
sn12345> platform vpd show
sn12345>
Chassis VPD
  Enclosure area:
                     version                                2
                    assetTag                                 
                  serviceTag                          ABC1234
  Platform area:
                     version                                2
                         ssn                            12345
           incumbentCanister                                8
 
Last edited:

eski

New Member
Jan 10, 2019
5
0
1
Howdy! Figured I'd chime in here.

I recently acquired a 4U EqualLogic PS6100 24x3.5" chassis and added 2x 3DJRJ MD1200 6Gbps Controller Modules. I can confirm the controllers not only work with the chassis and report "GreenDress" as the prompt/hostname (as opposed to reddress, bluedress, etc) but also the set_temp spoofing and fan_speed settings work as well.

I was concerned that although my research revealed the modules would work with the chassis, that the fans wouldn't act the same as my MD1200 because the chassis was never available as a PowerVault and so maybe the PSU/fan firmware was different. Thankfully my concerns were unfounded.

Edit: Been a few days and just noticed my PS6100 went from identifying as "MD12xx" in iDRAC to "MD1240" which doesn't appear to have ever been marketed. Fun fact.
 
Last edited:

saulius_2006

New Member
Nov 21, 2023
2
0
1
I use a lot of Dell MD1200 disk shelves, just got another one in and I needed to know if I need to update the firmware on it (because you can only do so with an H800 or H810 card HBA card, which I would have to dig out). didn't have a spare system with a SAS card to connect to it and poll the firmware version to see if it was outdated, so I got to thinking for a minute:

There's a mini-din "password reset" connector on the controllers, and to me that just screamed debug UART (I mean, the dumb expander MD1200 doesn't even have any functionality to password). Sure enough, after shoving some breadboard jumpers into it, I get a debug shell (RS232, 38400-8-n-1):

Code:
BlueDress.106.000 >?
unknown_cmd -> cmd:? args:1

BlueDress.106.000 >help
unknown_cmd -> cmd:help args:1

BlueDress.106.000 >


Pinout (facing the back of the controller):



However as you can see above, the shell isn't giving up any commands, and nothing I could guess would take. So I downloaded Dell's update package for the shelf, extracted out the firmware binary, and loaded it into Ghidra, then performed a string search until I found some:



those certainly look like commands, and after testing them they indeed were. Better yet, I eventually found the strings "devils" and "_devils", these make the shell spit out all possible commands, which you can find here: BlueDress.106.000 >_devils _boot Download the boot image (FW image 1 a - Pastebin.com

A few interesting things, such as temp reading:

Code:
BlueDress.106.000 >_temp_rd

  BP_1[2] = 20c
  BP_2[3] = 19c
  SIM0[0] = 25c
  SIM1[1] = 25c
  EXP0[4] = 41c
  EXP1[5] = 45c

  AVG = 29c
Arbitrarily control fan speed 0-100:
Code:
BlueDress.106.000 >set_speed 20
##if you go lower than 20%, it'll ramp back up
##if you really want lower than 20, you need to spoof the temp with set_temp
Detailed firmware version (it seems the MD firmware team is using github, or at least a build tool that defaults to owner: github):
Code:
BlueDress.106.000 >_ver
********************* Bench Build **********************
Build Owner   : GitHub
Build Number  : 000
Build Version : 106
Build Date    : Mon Aug 24 12:28:59 2015
FPGA Revision  : A9
Board Revision : 8
CPLD Revision  : 7
**************Firmware Image Information****************
          Image Region 0 (Always Boot)
             Revision         : 0.0.63.0
             Dell Version     : 1.01
             Total Image Size : 0003d89c [252060]
             Fast Boot        : Yes
             Image Address    : 0x14000000
             RegionOffset     : 0x00000000
             RegionSize       : 0x00080000
             RegionType       : 0x00000000
Active--->Image Region 1
             Revision         : 0.0.63.0
             Dell Version     : 1.06
             Total Image Size : 000414fc [267516]
             Fast Boot        : Yes
             Image Address    : 0x14080000
             RegionOffset     : 0x00080000
             RegionSize       : 0x00080000
             RegionType       : 0x00000001
          Image Region 2
             Revision         : 0.0.63.0
             Dell Version     : 1.06
             Total Image Size : 000414fc [267516]
             Fast Boot        : Yes
             Image Address    : 0x14100000
             RegionOffset     : 0x00100000
             RegionSize       : 0x00080000
             RegionType       : 0x00000002
********************************************************
The only way to update the firmware on these shelves is with a dell executable, and it will only do it if it's connected via an H800 or H810 HBA, so if you don't have one of those you were out of luck. However looking through the commands here, you can just drop it new firmware over serial via XMODEM.

I think my favorite find however is this:
Code:
  BlueDress.106.000 >ps_status
************************************************************************************
This command has not been implemented yet.
If you REALLY need this feature cont(r)act the Devil's firmware team for help.
CAUTION: It may not be wise to make cont(r)act with any of the Devil's team members.
************************************************************************************
This should be nearly the same if not identical on all their disk shelves with this connector, eg the md1000, md12000/md1220, md3000, etc. If you wanna dick around with it and don't wanna have to shove connectors into it, you can buy their "password reset" cable: New Fit for Dell Password Reset/Service Cable MN657 MD1200 MD3200 US Shipping | eBay - you could connect it to the serial port on your host, and tell your host to run on boot "_shutup 10" for arbitrary fan control for example
some info from my MD1200 with a controller flashed to SC200:

Code:
12Pack.Slot0.1.03.000 >sas_address

Expander SAS ADDRESS: 500c04f2d69a5d3f
ELI ADDRESS:          500c04f2d69a5d00
VPHY ADDRESS:         500c04f2d69a5d3d
ISIM ADDRESS:         500c04f2d69a5dbd

Slot:  0 Phy: 33 SAS ADDRESS: 500c04f2d69a5d21 SATA Drive 6G
Slot:  1 Phy: 32 SAS ADDRESS: 0000000000000000
Slot:  2 Phy: 24 SAS ADDRESS: 0000000000000000
Slot:  3 Phy: 27 SAS ADDRESS: 0000000000000000
Slot:  4 Phy: 26 SAS ADDRESS: 0000000000000000
Slot:  5 Phy: 25 SAS ADDRESS: 0000000000000000
Slot:  6 Phy: 30 SAS ADDRESS: 0000000000000000
Slot:  7 Phy: 29 SAS ADDRESS: 0000000000000000
Slot:  8 Phy: 28 SAS ADDRESS: 0000000000000000
Slot:  9 Phy: 31 SAS ADDRESS: 0000000000000000
Slot: 10 Phy: 34 SAS ADDRESS: 0000000000000000
Slot: 11 Phy: 35 SAS ADDRESS: 0000000000000000

12Pack.Slot0.1.03.000 >chassistype
Chassis Type: Blue Devil (12 drive)
Code:
root@r620tester:~# lsscsi
[0:0:0:0]    disk    ATA      INTEL SSDSC2BA40 2270  /dev/sda
[0:0:1:0]    disk    ATA      MK0400GCTZA      HPG0  /dev/sdb
[1:0:0:0]    disk    ATA      Samsung SSD 860  3B6Q  /dev/sdc
[1:0:1:0]    enclosu DELL     SC200            1.03  -
[6:0:0:0]    disk    ATA      KINGSTON SV300S3 BBF0  /dev/sde
[8:0:0:0]    cd/dvd  iDRAC    Virtual CD       0329  /dev/sr0
[8:0:0:1]    disk    iDRAC    Virtual Floppy   0329  /dev/sdd

Code:
root@r620tester:~# dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdc bs=4M count=5000
5000+0 records in
5000+0 records out
20971520000 bytes (21 GB, 20 GiB) copied, 47.1326 s, 445 MB/s
root@r620tester:~# dd of=/dev/null if=/dev/sdc bs=4M count=5000
5000+0 records in
5000+0 records out
20971520000 bytes (21 GB, 20 GiB) copied, 39.3732 s, 533 MB/s
Code:
root@r620tester:~# smartctl -a /dev/sdc
smartctl 6.6 2017-11-05 r4594 [x86_64-linux-4.19.0-8-amd64] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-17, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model:     Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB
Serial Number:    S3Z8NY0M714134W
LU WWN Device Id: 5 002538 e09705660
Firmware Version: RVT03B6Q
User Capacity:    1,000,204,886,016 bytes [1.00 TB]
Sector Size:      512 bytes logical/physical
Rotation Rate:    Solid State Device
Form Factor:      2.5 inches
Device is:        Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall]
ATA Version is:   ACS-4 T13/BSR INCITS 529 revision 5
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.2, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)


I use a lot of Dell MD1200 disk shelves, just got another one in and I needed to know if I need to update the firmware on it (because you can only do so with an H800 or H810 card HBA card, which I would have to dig out). didn't have a spare system with a SAS card to connect to it and poll the firmware version to see if it was outdated, so I got to thinking for a minute:

There's a mini-din "password reset" connector on the controllers, and to me that just screamed debug UART (I mean, the dumb expander MD1200 doesn't even have any functionality to password). Sure enough, after shoving some breadboard jumpers into it, I get a debug shell (RS232, 38400-8-n-1):

Code:
BlueDress.106.000 >?
unknown_cmd -> cmd:? args:1

BlueDress.106.000 >help
unknown_cmd -> cmd:help args:1

BlueDress.106.000 >


Pinout (facing the back of the controller):



However as you can see above, the shell isn't giving up any commands, and nothing I could guess would take. So I downloaded Dell's update package for the shelf, extracted out the firmware binary, and loaded it into Ghidra, then performed a string search until I found some:



those certainly look like commands, and after testing them they indeed were. Better yet, I eventually found the strings "devils" and "_devils", these make the shell spit out all possible commands, which you can find here: BlueDress.106.000 >_devils _boot Download the boot image (FW image 1 a - Pastebin.com

A few interesting things, such as temp reading:

Code:
BlueDress.106.000 >_temp_rd

  BP_1[2] = 20c
  BP_2[3] = 19c
  SIM0[0] = 25c
  SIM1[1] = 25c
  EXP0[4] = 41c
  EXP1[5] = 45c

  AVG = 29c
Arbitrarily control fan speed 0-100:
Code:
BlueDress.106.000 >set_speed 20
##if you go lower than 20%, it'll ramp back up
##if you really want lower than 20, you need to spoof the temp with set_temp
Detailed firmware version (it seems the MD firmware team is using github, or at least a build tool that defaults to owner: github):
Code:
BlueDress.106.000 >_ver
********************* Bench Build **********************
Build Owner   : GitHub
Build Number  : 000
Build Version : 106
Build Date    : Mon Aug 24 12:28:59 2015
FPGA Revision  : A9
Board Revision : 8
CPLD Revision  : 7
**************Firmware Image Information****************
          Image Region 0 (Always Boot)
             Revision         : 0.0.63.0
             Dell Version     : 1.01
             Total Image Size : 0003d89c [252060]
             Fast Boot        : Yes
             Image Address    : 0x14000000
             RegionOffset     : 0x00000000
             RegionSize       : 0x00080000
             RegionType       : 0x00000000
Active--->Image Region 1
             Revision         : 0.0.63.0
             Dell Version     : 1.06
             Total Image Size : 000414fc [267516]
             Fast Boot        : Yes
             Image Address    : 0x14080000
             RegionOffset     : 0x00080000
             RegionSize       : 0x00080000
             RegionType       : 0x00000001
          Image Region 2
             Revision         : 0.0.63.0
             Dell Version     : 1.06
             Total Image Size : 000414fc [267516]
             Fast Boot        : Yes
             Image Address    : 0x14100000
             RegionOffset     : 0x00100000
             RegionSize       : 0x00080000
             RegionType       : 0x00000002
********************************************************
The only way to update the firmware on these shelves is with a dell executable, and it will only do it if it's connected via an H800 or H810 HBA, so if you don't have one of those you were out of luck. However looking through the commands here, you can just drop it new firmware over serial via XMODEM.

I think my favorite find however is this:
Code:
  BlueDress.106.000 >ps_status
************************************************************************************
This command has not been implemented yet.
If you REALLY need this feature cont(r)act the Devil's firmware team for help.
CAUTION: It may not be wise to make cont(r)act with any of the Devil's team members.
************************************************************************************
This should be nearly the same if not identical on all their disk shelves with this connector, eg the md1000, md12000/md1220, md3000, etc. If you wanna dick around with it and don't wanna have to shove connectors into it, you can buy their "password reset" cable: New Fit for Dell Password Reset/Service Cable MN657 MD1200 MD3200 US Shipping | eBay - you could connect it to the serial port on your host, and tell your host to run on boot "_shutup 10" for arbitrary fan control for example
Hi @fohdeesha

I really appreciate your work here and all the details you provided.
Recently I just purchased my MD1220 and would like to customize the fun noise. I really tried my best but I can’t grasps/understand how to get in to CLI mode.
What is BlueDress and how to get it connected.

Thanks for all your support.
 

Avery3R

New Member
Jan 15, 2024
1
8
3
For those of you(and me) that bricked your board through serial errors, I've found a way to unbrick them.


Doing a bit of searching led me to a chinese patent for recovering firmware on LSISAS2x chips. This patent referenced a utility called "xflash.exe". Doing a search on that led me to others using it to reflash an expander from supermicro.

Supermicro publishes the utility here: https://www.supermicro.com/wdl/utility/ExpanderXtools_Lite/Windows/SAS2 Expander/SMC ExpanderXtoolsLite v1.5_Window.zip

There's also a linux version if you go back up in the url there should be a directory listing.

First I tested that it could interface with the emm. The "downloading bootstrap" portion took quite a while. I think that it has to send each byte of the bootstrapBobcat.fw file over that excruciatingly slow debug protocol.

Code:
xflash.exe -s \\.\COM9 get avail

********************************************************************************
    Xflash

    LSI SAS Expander Flash Utility

    Version: 7.0.0.0

    Copyright (c) 2010 LSI Corporation.  All rights reserved.
********************************************************************************

Initializing Interface..

INFO: Bootstrap is not present on board.

Downloading the Bootstrap...........Download Bootstrap Complete.

Expander: SAS2x36


1) SAS2x36 (00000000:00000000)
Then, erase the boot region:

Code:
xflash.exe -s \\.\COM9 -l logfile.txt erase fw 0

********************************************************************************
    Xflash

    LSI SAS Expander Flash Utility

    Version: 7.0.0.0

    Copyright (c) 2010 LSI Corporation.  All rights reserved.
********************************************************************************

Initializing Interface..

INFO: Bootstrap is already present on board

Expander: SAS2x36


..Pre-Validation of image is successful.

You are about to erase firmware Boot region.
Are you sure you want to erase Firmware Boot Region?(y/n):y

Erasing Region...........................Erase Successful.
and finally, download the firmware file to the boot region (0):

Code:
xflash.exe -s \\.\COM9 -l logfile.txt down fw ..\MD12_106.bin 0

********************************************************************************
    Xflash

    LSI SAS Expander Flash Utility

    Version: 7.0.0.0

    Copyright (c) 2010 LSI Corporation.  All rights reserved.
********************************************************************************

Initializing Interface..

INFO: Bootstrap is already present on board

Expander: SAS2x36


   Expander Validation: Passed
              Checksum: Failed
Target Firmware Region: 00
       Current Version: 255.255.255.255
   Replacement Version: 00.00.63.00
      Image Validation: Passed

Warning: Pre-Validation of image has failed.
Are you sure to download file to expander?(y/n):y

Downloading File..........................................................Download Complete.

Post-validating.......................................Post-Validation of image is successful.

Download Successful.
I'm assuming my pre-validation checksum failed because I had slightly patched my firmware. After rebooting the emm, I was able to get the normal devil prompt over serial.
 

Elmojo

New Member
Apr 16, 2021
12
0
1
Ok, I need a little help here...
I have my MD1200 connected to my Dell T630 via a console cable. I'm running unRAID on the T630, so my interface will be via the terminal, I guess?
What's my next step here? Do I need to reboot the server and/or MD1200?
What command(s) do I type into terminal to get into the shell for the MD1200, if that's even the right word. All I want to do is slow down the fans a little so my wife won't leave me. Please help. lol
 

Elmojo

New Member
Apr 16, 2021
12
0
1
Quick follow-up...
I finally was able to connect to the MD1200 by dragging out an old Win7 box that had a serial port, and physically connecting it. I can run the temp check and shutup commands, and all seems to be working.
I'd still really like to know how to access this from my unRAID terminal (if possible), so I can set it up as a user script to run periodically. I'd really prefer not to leave this old Optiplex hooked up in my server room either, lol.

Also, does anyone know what the various temp readings correlate to?
My "BP0/1" and "SIM0/1" readings are not too far above ambient, but EXP0 and EXP1 are running around 50/51c, which seems a little high.
 

homelab_james

New Member
Feb 25, 2024
7
2
3
I'm glad to see the MD1200 community alive and well!

I have been researching about fan control for the past few days since picking up two of these MD1200 units for my Unraid homelab. I've just ordered the password reset cable and I am going to try to commands on the each controller in a few weeks when it arrives.

I have a few questions so far:

  1. Flashing the firmware (to 1.06) seems risky, is there a good reason / feature missing in older firmware? I'm not sure I want to take a chance.
  2. What is the final verdict on keeping the new slower fan speed from ramping back up, just make sure both controllers are updated to the same setting?
  3. What are the actual serial commands at the BlueDress console to reduce the fan, "fan_speed 20" and "set_temp 1 0" and "set_temp 2 0" ? Also "_shutup 20" ?
If doing all those commands do not stick, the only thing left is to is a cron job script to tell it to shutup every minute or so via serial port?

thanks!
James
 

Elmojo

New Member
Apr 16, 2021
12
0
1
to reduce the fan, "fan_speed 20" and "set_temp 1 0" and "set_temp 2 0" ?
No! That will cause potential... issues.
Just use the "_shutup xx" command to set the fan speed. Mine stuck the first time and has not needed to be reset. Also, I put mine on 33, and it's plenty quiet. However, my equipment is all in a separate room, outside of my main living space, so you likely may want to drop it lower. I was concerned that 20 wouldn't provide enough cooling, since I'm already having fairly high "EXP" temps, whatever those are. I would suggest that you check your temps after running a while, before setting your fan speed, to make sure you have enough cooling.
 

homelab_james

New Member
Feb 25, 2024
7
2
3
No! That will cause potential... issues.
Just use the "_shutup xx" command to set the fan speed. Mine stuck the first time and has not needed to be reset. Also, I put mine on 33, and it's plenty quiet. However, my equipment is all in a separate room, outside of my main living space, so you likely may want to drop it lower. I was concerned that 20 wouldn't provide enough cooling, since I'm already having fairly high "EXP" temps, whatever those are. I would suggest that you check your temps after running a while, before setting your fan speed, to make sure you have enough cooling.
Ok, so once i console in, hit enter a few times, see prompt, I just type, `_shutup 30` for 30% speed, and do this for BOTH controllers. I'm guessing if the prompt says something like command not found" then I might have older than 1.03 firmware. Also, this _shutup command is not listed in "devils" list of options? Should it be listed there for it to work? What exactly does it do (set the max speed?) and can it be undone?

That's good advice on checking temps. I currently have it connected to UnRaid which clearly shows temps. I can always bring fan speed up in the summer.

EDIT: I re-read this thread, I see a few answers to my questions. 1) The shutup just sets the fan speed (takes it out of auto?) but i dont see how you un-do this setting. 2) you dont need to update firmware for shutup to work. A nice summary can be found on this post on page 3.
 

Elmojo

New Member
Apr 16, 2021
12
0
1
Ok, so once i console in, hit enter a few times, see prompt, I just type, `_shutup 30` for 30% speed, and do this for BOTH controllers. I'm guessing if the prompt says something like command not found" then I might have older than 1.03 firmware. Also, this _shutup command is not listed in "devils" list of options? Should it be listed there for it to work? What exactly does it do (set the max speed?) and can it be undone?

That's good advice on checking temps. I currently have it connected to UnRaid which clearly shows temps. I can always bring fan speed up in the summer.
Yes and no. You may or may not have to do both controllers. I only had to do one, and only once. Others have reported having to apply the command to both controllers, and sometimes multiple times, to get it to stick. YMMV. ;)
My firmware was already at 1.06, so I can't say how that might affect its acceptance of commands, or not.
The "_devils" and "devils" are separate, and together, list all available commands. The first post of this thread has a pastepin link that shows them all.
"_shutup" can easily be set to another value. As for undoing it, and setting the box back to default "automatic" mode, it's as simple as a power cycle, since these commands don't survive reboots.
As for the temps, unRAID does indeed report temps...of the hard drives. It does NOT report the temps of the controllers or any other internal portions of the MD1200 itself. Those are the temps I'm more concerned about, since they are the ones that seem to be running high on my box.

When I run the " _temp_rd " command, my temps on the EXP0/EXP1 sometimes appear to be a bit higher than expected, like 50/51c, when the drives are running in the high 20s or low 30s. I'm still trying to figure out what the EXP sensor actually is, and what a 'safe' temp range is for it.
 

homelab_james

New Member
Feb 25, 2024
7
2
3
As for undoing it, and setting the box back to default "automatic" mode, it's as simple as a power cycle, since these commands don't survive reboots.
this is all really great info, and a nice summary.... epically about the commands not surviving reboots, I think I'll end up writing a bash script to manually refresh this from the server as others have mentioned doing here.

I was concerned about running a script every few seconds if the commands were written and stored in EEPROM as they only have about 10k write cycles and could wear out, but since they dont "survive reboots", that tells us its prob stored in ram, so no need to worry about wearing anything out with a persistent script.

I'm glad I was able to find this group! Now I just have to wait a few weeks for the cable to arrive.
 

homelab_james

New Member
Feb 25, 2024
7
2
3
You may or may not have to do both controllers. I only had to do one, and only once. Others have reported having to apply the command to both controllers, and sometimes multiple times, to get it to stick. YMMV. ;)
Since I'm using SATA drives, I can only use one controller anyway, only SAS drives supports multi-path.

I will report back with my findings once I learn more and give it a try.
 

homelab_james

New Member
Feb 25, 2024
7
2
3
I just realized there is no serial port on my host server. Has anyone been able to get a USB to Serial adapter to work with the scripts to read and write to the serial port? I was thinking can create a VM or container (in proxmox or unraid) to do this script.
 

Elmojo

New Member
Apr 16, 2021
12
0
1
I just realized there is no serial port on my host server. Has anyone been able to get a USB to Serial adapter to work with the scripts to read and write to the serial port? I was thinking can create a VM or container (in proxmox or unraid) to do this script.
I believe that there was some mention of using a USB to serial adapter a couple pages back. I know it's a rather long thread, but it may be worth slogging through the whole thing to get a feel for what's been done and what doesn't work.
I have a serial port on my Dell server, but I haven't figured out how to access the terminal commands directly. Running the normal terminal from unraid doesn't seem to work. I ended up having to physically plug in an old PC that had a serial port, and doing it that way. I would love to be able to access the MD1200 console through my Dell server, so if you figure that part out, please pass it on!
 

homelab_james

New Member
Feb 25, 2024
7
2
3
IT WORKED. I got the serial port connected to a spare windows machine running win 10, putty, 38400, defaults, connect. I issued _shutup 20 and its dead quiet, and still plenty of airflow. I tried shutup 100 just to test, and it sounded like it was going to take off across the room! Ha ha! Between 50% and 20% I noticed about a 25 watt drop in power too.

Also, my dell version is 1.01, Build date is Wed Nov 12, 15:16:00 2009 - that's 14 and some years ago.

I did this only to the top controller, I have both installed.. seems to be staying after 5 or 10 min. I will keep an eye on it.

Next project will be to figure out where I can put this serial cable so I can issue the remote after a reboot, or as needed. Maybe a little Arduino board with serial output can work for this, maybe I can build a sketch where the card can just take a button input on GPIO pin, and that would just issue the command manually... or set a time to issue it every x minutes.

Thank you everyone for the help and this message board. I am so happy I was able to slow down the fans this way.



Edit: Added my version output here:

Code:
BlueDress.101.11 >_shutup 25
BlueDress.101.12 >_ver
*************** Offical Release Version ****************
Build Version : 101
Build Date    : Wed Nov 12 15:16:00 2009
FPGA Revision  : A9
Board Revision : 8
CPLD Revision  : 7
**************Firmware Image Information****************
          Image Region 0 (Always Boot)
             Revision         : 0.0.63.0
             Dell Version     : 1.01
             Total Image Size : 0003d89c [252060]
             Fast Boot        : Yes
             Image Address    : 0x14000000
             RegionOffset     : 0x00000000
             RegionSize       : 0x00080000
             RegionType       : 0x00000000
Active--->Image Region 1
             Revision         : 0.0.63.0
             Dell Version     : 1.01
             Total Image Size : 0003d89c [252060]
             Fast Boot        : Yes
             Image Address    : 0x14080000
             RegionOffset     : 0x00080000
             RegionSize       : 0x00080000
             RegionType       : 0x00000001
          Image Region 2
             Revision         : 0.0.63.0
             Dell Version     : 1.01
             Total Image Size : 0003d89c [252060]
             Fast Boot        : Yes
             Image Address    : 0x14100000
             RegionOffset     : 0x00100000
             RegionSize       : 0x00080000
             RegionType       : 0x00000002
********************************************************
 

Elmojo

New Member
Apr 16, 2021
12
0
1
IT WORKED
Glad to hear you're all cool and quiet now.
If you get that arduino serial reset working, please pass the goodness. I'd very much like to implement something similar, if I'm not able to just issue the commands via my unraid terminal. Since no one has chimed in on that front, I'm assuming that's not possible...?